Hand-picked

Hello everyone and welcome to the first real update on the new host. We finally have some exciting Diablo news to share, so here goes:

COMPATIBILITY
First things first, mod releases have always had a priority around here. Hardy released a new version of his Punisher mod after 3 years of silence, making it compatible with D2 LoD v1.12. This is the only notable new feature of the mod, it's still the same old Punisher that you're all used to. Grab the 3.1.2 version from here.

I KNOW KUNG-FU!
Blizzcon is still in progress, but Blizzard already revealed the fourth character class in Diablo 3 - the Monk. From what is known so far, he's a melee fighter who uses martial arts techniques and can combine his skills into deadly combos. Reports are it feels like a Paladin-Assassin hybrid. Check our new screenshot of the week out, showcasing the monk in action with his Seven-Sided Strike skill.

In other Blizzcon news, a new area has been revealed - the Borderlands. It looks similar to the deserts in Diablo 2, but of course, with lots more environmental effects added (sandstorms, rocky areas and such) and tons of new monsters to fight.

There were also other discussions going, most notably about the Fury system and changes to some abilities like Witch Doctor's Totem Spider, but I'm sure you can find all the information needed online

DO YOU ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE?
Back to our good old Phrozen Keep. If you're not a regular on the site, you might wonder what keeps it alive with only a few active Diablo 2 modmakers left on the scene. We owe a big part of the traffic going these days to the mod tournaments. Here is an introduction to the currently active tournaments:

Eastern Sun might not have many tournaments right now, but it has a long history of running them. There is only one active tournament in there currently, but it's a massive and challenging one. Metropolis Man, the creator of the Heptad tournament (and of most of the Eastern Sun tournaments in the past), says about it:

"The Eastern Sun Heptad Tournament is a colossal event where players create a 7-character team (one character from each Class) with the goal of all team members defeating Hell Baal. Sharing goodies amongst team characters is an important part of the event. Different team members are assigned various duties and affect score accordingly. There are plenty of challenges for those players seeking serious competition."

You can join the Eastern Sun Heptad tournament in this thread. If you don't know what to do, then just ask - there are plenty of helpful people in there to answer all your questions.

The other mod with tournaments is Zy-El. There are currently 3 active tournaments in there, introduced by Al-T:

"The main tournament running is the "Septathlon" which was devised by Phlebiac, initially as a personal challenge only, however the concept was so good that Hans took it a stage further and turned it into a full-blown tournament. Details can be seen here at the Keep at this link and at our Wiki at this external link. The tournament has been a great success with 21 participants (not all currently active) and has breathed new life into the mod, especially for old-timers like myself.

We also have a softcore tournament (The Lord of Hatred Challenge) running and while player participation so far has been relatively low, those players who have taken part have given nice feedback saying they enjoyed the challenge. Link at the Keep is here and at the Wiki it is this one."

I know I said 3 tournaments, but Al-T introduced only 2. After we had this conversation, a new tournament emerged in Zy-El, guest-hosted by Metropolis Man. The tournament is called The Zy-El 50k Masters Championships and the goal is to achieve a score of 50000, based on different statistics (character level, skill level and so on). It currently has 9 participants and counting, so join now if you're up to the ultimate Zy-El challenge!

Ok, this update turned out a little long. You're free to go now and do whatever you do on this site

Thank you for posting about the ongoing tournaments for both mods in the updates page.

"Hi. My name is Hans, and I am addicted to a game that is not yet been made" - Card carrying member of D3 Addictions Anonymous, since June 2008.
Card carrying member of Mentaldom, since May 2006 - Zy-El Hardcore.
"German pornstar/Bee Gee lookalike" & "The Blacksmith"
Trying to picture Hans as a Dominion...nah it isn't working sorry. It's the mustache that gets me every time - Al-T.
"All men play on 127" - Hans
"Okay, time out. This is Zy-El. The mod of total excess. Since when would any Zy-El lover do only what's necessary?" - Metropolis ManZy-El Wiki|New Zy-El Website

Thanks very much Onyx and hopefully this has the desired effect of not just getting more tournament players but regular visitors to the Keep in general.

Why don't you run a tournament for your own Mod and you can post about it next news slot.

P.S. I'll be starting another short softcore tournament for Zy-El in about 3 or 4 weeks and will send you the details closer to that time.

[EDIT] P.S. This is probably semantics but Metro isn't a "guest-host", he is a fully fledged "Zy-El Host" in his own right.

Al-Tisaur...Card carrying member of mentaldom since March 2007 & "Zy-Sensitive" Veteran Pension Holder!
Veteran? More like "Ancient Relic!"..been playing the mod for 12 years!
Trying to picture Al as a Power,... it's not working it must be the Tiger Stripes that get me every time - HansI get knocked down but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down...!Official Zy-El Website | ZyEl Wiki | Russian Zy-El Website by mahatmaQL | Eastern Sun

Al-T" wrote:P.S. This is probably semantics but Metro isn't a "guest-host", he is a fully fledged "Zy-El Host" in his own right.

Good eye Al. I missed that when I first read the update.

"Hi. My name is Hans, and I am addicted to a game that is not yet been made" - Card carrying member of D3 Addictions Anonymous, since June 2008.
Card carrying member of Mentaldom, since May 2006 - Zy-El Hardcore.
"German pornstar/Bee Gee lookalike" & "The Blacksmith"
Trying to picture Hans as a Dominion...nah it isn't working sorry. It's the mustache that gets me every time - Al-T.
"All men play on 127" - Hans
"Okay, time out. This is Zy-El. The mod of total excess. Since when would any Zy-El lover do only what's necessary?" - Metropolis ManZy-El Wiki|New Zy-El Website

Well the way I see it is, a "host" indicates intellectual conception and while this is a game and even a forum about a game, this could be argued to the Nth degree. Let's just accept Metro is the "Host" bar none, as it was his idea.

Hans please check your Wiki PMs (sorry for the OT Onyx).

Al-Tisaur...Card carrying member of mentaldom since March 2007 & "Zy-Sensitive" Veteran Pension Holder!
Veteran? More like "Ancient Relic!"..been playing the mod for 12 years!
Trying to picture Al as a Power,... it's not working it must be the Tiger Stripes that get me every time - HansI get knocked down but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down...!Official Zy-El Website | ZyEl Wiki | Russian Zy-El Website by mahatmaQL | Eastern Sun

Hand-picked

Is that expression really that important? I consider Metropilis Man's regular location to be Eastern Sun, so he's a guest in the Zy-El forum, and he's a host of the tournament, so he's a guest-host Anyway, enough with the off-topic, please.

Al-T" wrote: Why don't you run a tournament for your own Mod and you can post about it next news slot.

Because my mod doesn't draw enough attention and this is pretty much pointless.